It looks really nice but you may want ask the question "how many of us run without one by choice?" before you go into production. My DR does about 80% of its travels in the dirt so I don't have one on my bike. The stock guard looks like new and sits in my parts pile under the bench. I don't run a chain guard on any of my dirt worthy bikes

Just sayin........

Hello Carl,

was produce only and just for the purpose as protection of the dirt from the chain / to does not contaminate civil clothes a girl.

What is the actual NSU screw failure rate?? I cant find a clear answer to this.

Should I replace and Loctite the bolts as a precaution, or are most newer bikes OK?

Does the neutral light always/usually stop working before a failure, or does it happen with no warning too? (my light works fine)

Thanks!!

The light might not always be a good way to tell. If only one screw was to loosen, you might never know.

My estimate would be 80% get loose. you don't have to replace the screws. Just loctite them. easy to do without draining the oil, I just laid the bike on a couple old car tires and went to work. There's several pictorial tutorials that will guide you.

__________________on one side the sign it said "Private Road", but on the other side it didn't say nothin'
2009 DR650 ..1972 Penton Six-Days..1971 Suzuki TS185.. 2005 KTM 400exc
Member of: AMA, NETRA, Blue Ribbon Coalition, CCCofVT, Berkshire TR, CT Ramblers

What is the actual NSU screw failure rate?? I cant find a clear answer to this.

The issue isn't really a 'failure rate' type of thing. The problem is that the screws are tightened against the plastic body of the NSU. Engine heat and heat cycling causes the plastic to soften slightly and collapse a little under the pressure of the screws. Once the plastic has deformed the screws are no longer tight. Most riders find 'finger tight' screws. A few riders find a screw is missing or one comes out during an oil change. Mine were barely finger tight when the bike had 300 miles on it.

__________________
Clarke's second law of Egodynamics: "For every expert, there is an equal and opposite expert." - Jasper Ffordewww.procycle.us - Everything for your DR650 and lots of other great stuff!DR900 Big Bore Stroker buildup TurboDiesel Corvette - go to the end to start at the beginning

The issue isn't really a 'failure rate' type of thing. The problem is that the screws are tightened against the plastic body of the NSU. Engine heat and heat cycling causes the plastic to soften slightly and collapse a little under the pressure of the screws. Once the plastic has deformed the screws are no longer tight. Most riders find 'finger tight' screws. A few riders find a screw is missing or one comes out during an oil change. Mine were barely finger tight when the bike had 300 miles on it.

The DR 'kit' I recently acquired had its clutch and other odds and ends nearby destroyed. The missing NSU screw was the likely culprit.

The light might not always be a good way to tell. If only one screw was to loosen, you might never know.

My estimate would be 80% get loose. you don't have to replace the screws. Just loctite them. easy to do without draining the oil, I just laid the bike on a couple old car tires and went to work. There's several pictorial tutorials that will guide you.

Would you use blue or red? I can't imagine that I'd ever want to take those bolts out again so I'd think red, but wanted to ask.

Saturday morning I'll be picking up my new '13 DR650 and one of the things I'd like to start working on now is locating a spare set of wheels. When i had my DRZ I kept one set of agressive offroad wheels/tires and one set of "50/50" wheels and tires for normal riding. That let me put the miles on my "street" tires and not wear out my dirt tires on my long daily commute (75-80 miles a day)

So, I've read that the DR350 wheels will fit, any particular years?

What other options are there (if any) that are fairly simple plug and play wheels and rotors?

The issue isn't really a 'failure rate' type of thing. The problem is that the screws are tightened against the plastic body of the NSU. Engine heat and heat cycling causes the plastic to soften slightly and collapse a little under the pressure of the screws. Once the plastic has deformed the screws are no longer tight. Most riders find 'finger tight' screws. A few riders find a screw is missing or one comes out during an oil change. Mine were barely finger tight when the bike had 300 miles on it.

I have never checked mine... I would think the plastic mounting "ears" would have steel or bronze bushings to take the screw forces?

I don't want to read this stuff, I could start to worry! At 40k miles, are we saying I shouldn't feel secure just 'cause it hasn't blwn up yet?